Murda Beatz Admits He Was Once a "Type Beat" Producer

These days, Murda Beatz is crafting hit singles for Drake while playing NBA 2K. It wasn't that long ago, however, that the Canadian producer was using YouTube to market his work to up-and-coming rappers.

"You've gotta network, build your name, build your brand," Murda explained to T-Pain during his recent appearance in the Red Bull Remix Lab in response to a fan asking how he's been able to land placements with artists like Drake and Migos. "You have to be confident in your brand to be able to reach big artists."

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"But how do you market your beats?" T-Pain responded.

"I put my beats on YouTube. I did 'type beats'," Murda replied.

Although Murda is no longer in the business of making "type beats," a producer practice focused on the creation of instrumentals that mimics or matches the pattern or approach of an existing artist or producer, including a similar BPM count and drum sounds, as he explained to Pain, all of his work can still be found on his channel.

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"I wanted to show people the come up," Murda said, "from me producing for like six years [and] where I came in five-six years."

While the "type beat" industry has been unfairly maligned over the past five years, both inside and outside of the producer community, in a recent guest editorial on DJBooth, veteran "type beat" producer Curtiss King reminded readers that the practice has actually produced some of your favorite hits:

Desiigner’s breakout single “Panda” was produced by a type beat producer named Menace. Young M.A’s viral song “Ooouuu” was produced by a type beat producer named U-Dubb of NY Bangers. The list and credits go on and on because the game is shifting. —Curtiss King, "The Truth About Type Beats From a Type Beat Producer"

Since becoming a hip-hop household name, Murda has shared some of the "type beats" he produced in his earlier years with the artists whose names inspired their creations—including Chief Keef, who he says he started creating beats for in 2012.

And what about when he wasn't trying to strike SEO gold? Incredibly, Murda also found success cold tweeting rappers. Hey, whatever works, right?

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